After watching thousands of popular and top-performing reels, the results are in.
The best reels have:
✅A clear and compelling hook
✅A pattern interrupt
✅Under 60 secs
✅Strong CTA
✅Attractive
Double-taking Hook
The hook is what’s going to grab your audience’s attention from the get-go. George Grahame (Social Media Manager) explains you have 3 seconds to execute this, or you meet the doom of the scrolling thumb.
Remember that a lot of strangers will see your post. They don’t know you, so why should they watch your reel? Make it a no-brainer for them.
Livi’s top tip: Limit yourself to a 1.5-second hook time. This is the amount of time you have to make an impression before somebody swipes away, so make your hook short and to the point.
Reminder: there are visual hooks and textual hooks. Both should need to happen in the first 1.5 seconds.
5 double-taking hooks
- The Secret About…
- X Things I Wish I Knew Before…
- How to [solve problem]
- Why You Are Failing At…
- Did You Know That…
Pattern Interrupt
Oftentimes, the reel you recreate will be a trend. This means the audience is expecting a certain outcome or switch on the beat drop, for instance.
Interrupt that pattern. The power of surprise will make it re-watchable. More view time means more interaction means greater likelihood of ticking Instagram’s criteria.
Livi: Be disruptive and ugly. In a space where aesthetics are everything, don’t underestimate the value of creating something ‘ugly.’ Looking pretty will only help your content blend in. A striking difference is key to making people stop and take note.
Top tip: When editing your videos within the Insta app, make sure to keep saving as you go! Sometimes it freezes and you can lose your awesome work or well-constructed caption in seconds.
Under 60 seconds
The best reels are short n’ sweet. 60 seconds is the max time limit – so convey your message succinctly.
George Grahame (Lead Social Media Manager at Karbon Creative) suggests:
“Vary your reel length. Don’t always aim to please the algorithm and give your audience fresh content to keep them coming back. Short and snappy is just as useful as slightly longer informative videos. And always select a thumbnail!”
Did you know: accounts with less than 5,000 followers get the most reach on reels? A whopping 3.79% average reach.
Strong CTA
What should the viewer do once they see your post? Follow you, comment, or like for part 2? Not adding a CTA on your reels is a missed opportunity to win more followers and build a community (which brands find attractive).
Again, you have no control over what reel will fly and what will flop. But, you do have control over what your audience sees. So include a CTA on every single post, regardless of whether it’s going to be a roaring success.
Attractive
We’re psychologically wired to trust and engage with attractive things. Make your reel irresistible by using high-quality media, fun text, slick style, memorable sound and a catchy but simple CTA.
We’ll dive more into detail about tools you can use to achieve results in chapter 5 and the best CTA’s in chapter 8.
